


Ladies Night

by NerineLunaCyran



Category: Dark Matter (TV)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Female Friendship, Gen, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 13:27:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5498702
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NerineLunaCyran/pseuds/NerineLunaCyran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Five thinks of herself and Two, the word 'lady' is not a term that comes to mind. So she is, rather understandable, a bit surprised when Two suddenly proclaims the two of them are going to have a Ladies Night. She should have known it was just a ruse to have the men leave them alone for a while.</p><p>In which Two wants to make sure Five is okay after what happened lately, and Five wants to make sure Two is okay after what they found out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ladies Night

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ankaret](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ankaret/gifts).



> Dear Ankaret,
> 
> To this date, I've never officially signed up for Yuletide, and had never actually written for it, but this has been my third year on the Pinch Hit mailing list, fervently checking each email to see if a request catches my fancy. Your requests where send out to the mailing list the Sunday before the collection opened. Three days, less than 72 hours, was the amount of time that was left for pinch hitters to complete any pinch hits they claimed. I told myself I was crazy, but I replied to the email anyway. 
> 
> Three days isn't a lot of time to think about, let alone write a story. An idea was sparked almost immediately upon reading your request though, and figuring out what I would write was relatively easy after that. Still, this one was done in somewhat of a rush, what with the impending deadline, and I apologise to you for not receiving a more polished story. I hope you will enjoy reading it anyway.
> 
> Happy Yuletide!
> 
> PS: There's another one of your Dark Matter prompts that sparked an idea for me, so who knows, you might find a little something for you in New Year's Resolutions collection after the holidays, one that I can actually take my time for.

“I’m done with this,” Two said, standing up from the table. “Way too much testosterone in here.”

Five was surprised when Two turned towards her.

“Five, you’re with me, we’re getting out of here. Ladies Night.”

Five stared at Two. Was she serious? Ladies Night?

Two walked out of the mess hall, and Five had followed her out before she had really realised what she was doing. Once she did, though, she figured she might as well just continue and find out what it was Two imagined as Ladies Night. Five had a nagging suspicion it didn’t include any of the usual things one might expect, such as dresses, braiding each others hair, or nail polish.

“Ladies Night?” Five asked, after they had both sat down. “No offence, but I don’t think either of us would call herself a lady?”

Two gave a dangerous smile. “Excuse to ditch the guys. This way, none of them will even think about interrupting us.”

“Smart,” Five answered, grinning. “So what did you really want?”

Two folded her hands on the table. “A lot happened these last few weeks. And you, well, you’re the one who’s probably least prepared for this kind of thing out of all of us.”

Five sighed, and dropped back in her chair. Of course. She shouldn’t have gotten her hopes up. Of course Two wasn’t here to actually spend some time with her.

“Don’t,” Two interrupted. “Don’t shut yourself off. I’m not an emotional kind of woman, this kind of thing isn’t what I’m good at. I wasn’t saying you’re not every bit as good as the rest of us, because you are. I’m probably still alive because of you.”

“I don’t think-”

“Well, I do,” Two interrupted once more. “Look, all of us here might be some form of mercenary or thief, but you weren’t. You were just trying to get out of a bad situation, and ended up in an even worse one.”

Five shook her head. She didn’t remember what her life had been like before they all woke up in their stasis pods, except for the brief flashes she had gotten a while back, but she wouldn’t want to trade it. Yeah, they had been in quite a few messes over the past few weeks, and there was certainly quite a bit of fear mixed in those, but she liked the people on this ship. Mostly. Three, well, he was a bit of a special case. She didn’t dislike him, particularly, but she didn’t think she would go so far as to say she liked him either.

“It’s not so bad, Two,” she answered gently. “I got to know you guys.”

Two sighed. “Not so sure you should be smiling about that.”

“I’m sure, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

“If you say so.” Two paused for a moment, searching Five’s face for something. “I just need to make sure- You shot someone, killed someone, when you saved me. I just need to know how you’re dealing with that.”

Five raised an eyebrow. Honestly, that’s what was upsetting Two? That’s what she was getting so uncomfortable about? “Look, Two, I like you. And that guy I shot, I really, really didn’t like him. Not a hard choice to make.”

“Doesn’t mean there can’t be any consequences.”

Five snorted. “Honestly, we’ve been through way worse than that since we woke up from those stasis pods. I’m fine, Two, really. I’m not some fragile little kid.”

“I wasn’t saying-”

“I know, I know. Just, Six said something the other day, and it’s just gotten me a little on edge lately. Not your fault.”

Two’s eyes narrowed, and Five couldn’t help but be a bit pleased by that reaction, be a bit flattered by the fact that Two was getting upset on her behalf.

“What did he say?”

“Doesn’t matter, I took care of it.” Five paused, considering whether she should ask her next question or not.

“Now that we’re doing the uncomfortable personal question thing anyway.. How are you feeling?”

“How am I feeling about what?” Two asked, her face the picture of innocence and confusion.

Five frowned. “Don’t do that. Don’t pretend with me. You know what I’m asking.”

Two kept the expression for a moment longer, before nodding. “Okay, I won’t. Still, there’s nothing to talk about.”

“Nothing to talk about?” Five asked, incredulous. “You almost died, several times, then got what can only be described as kidnapped and held hostage, and there’s nothing you think you could talk about?”

“I can think of a lot to talk about, Five,” Two replied. “Doesn’t mean I want to.”

Five crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, keeping her eyes on Two. “Well I do. You can’t do everything on your own. You wanted to make sure I was okay after what happened to me, and now I’m doing the same. So, talk.”

Two held her eyes for a while longer, before letting out a huff that sounded to Five like a cross between annoyance and amusement.

“I don’t know how to feel, really,” Two eventually said, her eyes trained at anything but Five. “It feels like waking up in those damned stasis pods all over again. I have no clue what’s what, or what to believe. Who am I? What am I? How much of myself is actually mine, and how much of myself is.. controlled, programmed, by others? I don’t even know if my thoughts are my own.”

Five couldn’t help but smile at that. She knew she shouldn’t be laughing at Two’s worries, and honestly, she wasn’t. It was just, it was a little endearing. Not that she would ever say so much to Two, of course.

“Two, do you think the Android’s thoughts are her own? That she should be treated as her own person?”

Two frowned. “We’ve always done so, haven’t we?”

“Then there’s your answer,” Five said. “If we treat the Android as her own person, and think of her thoughts as her own, then there is no reason to think of yourself, an actual human made of flesh and blood, as any different.”

“Well, I guess.”

“Yep! And hey, if your thoughts are so occupied by worries about whether or not they are your own, then I guess that’s a clear sign they are, aren’t they? If anyone else would have been controlling them, they would have no need for such worries!”

A small smile formed on Two’s face. “Guess your child-like reasoning is good for something after all.”

“Hey!” Five exclaimed, but she was still smiling. She knew Two was just messing with her.

They both looked up when the door opened, and the Android walked into the room.

“My apologies for intruding on your Ladies Night, Captain, Five. But I believe it’s in the best interest of this ship if you were to return to the mess hall.”

“What’s going on?” Two asked, immediately on guard.

“The rest of the crew has gotten into an argument that has gotten somewhat.. Heated.”

“About what?” Five asked.

“I believe it started with accusations of cheating surrounding a game of cards.”

Five snorted. Two rolled her eyes.

“Better head back. Seems this crew can’t survive even one evening without it’s ladies.”

Five laughed, and gave Two a big smile. “Well, there’s a reason you’re the Captain, after all.”

The three ladies aboard the Raza - in so far as an Android could be labelled with any gender - made their way back to the mess hall, to try and calm down the latest argument about the crew. 

Just before entering the mess hall, Two paused. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.”

Five grinned. “Anytime, Two. Anytime.”


End file.
